Saya merasa kasihan kepada anak itu.

Yes, Saya kasihan kepada anak itu works.

• merasa = to feel
• kasihan = sorry for / pity / compassion

So merasa kasihan literally means feel pity / feel sorry for.

Adding merasa makes the emotion more explicit. In everyday Indonesian, people often just say:

• Saya kasihan pada anak itu.
• Saya kasihan sama anak itu. (more colloquial)

So the full sentence is correct, but slightly more formal or deliberate than the shorter version.

In this sentence, kasihan means something like:

• to feel sorry for someone
• to pity someone
• to feel compassion for someone

It is a very common Indonesian word. It can express sympathy, not just cold pity.

It can also appear by itself as an exclamation:

• Kasihan! = Poor thing! / That’s so sad for them!

So in your sentence, kasihan is the emotional state the speaker feels toward the child.

Yes. All three can be used, but they differ in style.

• kepada = more formal
• pada = common, neutral, slightly shorter
• sama = colloquial, spoken Indonesian

So these are all possible:

• Saya merasa kasihan kepada anak itu. (formal/neutral)
• Saya merasa kasihan pada anak itu. (very natural)
• Saya kasihan sama anak itu. (casual speech)

In careful writing, kepada is often preferred. In conversation, pada or sama may sound more natural.

Because in Indonesian, demonstratives such as ini and itu usually come after the noun.

• anak itu = that child / the child
• rumah itu = that house / the house

So anak itu is the normal noun phrase order.

By contrast, itu anak is a different structure. It usually means something more like:

• That is a child
• or it may sound like you are pointing something out in a special context

So for that child, the normal form is anak itu.

It literally means that, but in many contexts it also works a lot like English the.

So anak itu can mean:

• that child
• the child

Which one sounds best in English depends on context.

This is very common in Indonesian: ini/itu often help specify a noun, even when English would just use the.

It is natural and grammatical, but it sounds a bit more formal or careful than everyday speech.

Why?

• merasa makes the feeling explicit
• kepada is a more formal preposition than pada or sama

So the sentence is good Indonesian, especially in writing or careful speech.

More everyday versions would be:

• Saya kasihan pada anak itu.
• Saya kasihan sama anak itu.

So the original is not wrong at all—it just sounds a bit more polished.

These words are related, but not the same.

• kasihan = feeling sorry for someone; pity; compassion
• sedih = sad
• iba = pity/compassion, often more literary or formal

Examples:

• Saya kasihan kepada anak itu.
  = I feel sorry for that child.

• Saya sedih.
  = I am sad.

• Saya merasa iba kepada anak itu.
  = I feel pity/compassion for that child.
  (more formal/literary than *kasihan)*

So kasihan is the most common everyday choice here.

Sometimes, yes.

If the context already makes the subject clear, Indonesian often omits pronouns. So you may hear:

• Kasihan pada anak itu.

Depending on context, that could mean:

• I feel sorry for that child
• or more generally Poor child

But if you want to clearly state I, then keeping saya is better:

• Saya merasa kasihan kepada anak itu.

So omission is possible, but it changes how explicit the sentence is.

It can, but it depends heavily on tone and context.

Often kasihan sounds caring and sympathetic. For example, if the child is sick, hurt, or in a difficult situation, it sounds natural and kind.

But if said with the wrong tone, it can sound condescending, as if the speaker is looking down on the child.

So just like in English, the emotional effect depends on:

• tone of voice
• context
• facial expression
• relationship between speakers

The word itself is not automatically rude.

Use tidak before merasa:

• Saya tidak merasa kasihan kepada anak itu.

If you drop merasa, you can also say:

• Saya tidak kasihan kepada anak itu.

Both are possible. The first sounds a little more explicit because it literally says I do not feel pity.

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. You usually add time words.

Examples:

• Kemarin saya merasa kasihan kepada anak itu.
  = Yesterday I felt sorry for that child.

• Tadi saya merasa kasihan kepada anak itu.
  = Earlier, I felt sorry for that child.

• Sekarang saya merasa kasihan kepada anak itu.
  = Now I feel sorry for that child.

• Nanti saya mungkin akan merasa kasihan kepada anak itu.
  = Later I may feel sorry for that child.

So the verb stays the same; time is shown through context or time expressions.

Not always, but in this sentence that is the most likely meaning.

anak can mean:

• child
• kid
• son/daughter in some contexts
• part of many compound expressions

Examples:

• anak itu = that child / the child
• anak saya = my child / my son / my daughter
• anak kecil = small child

So here, without more context, child is the safest translation.

Yes, but it sounds more formal and a bit less everyday.

• kepada is very common for a person as the target of a feeling or action
• terhadap is often used in formal writing, especially when talking about attitudes, reactions, or policies

So:

• Saya merasa kasihan kepada anak itu. = natural
• Saya merasa kasihan terhadap anak itu. = possible, but more formal/written

For normal conversation, kepada or pada is usually the better choice.